The 'Swadeshi' and 'Boycott' were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) agitation against the Partition of Bengal
Swadeshi and boycott were first used as mass methods of protest in the agitation against the 1905 Partition of Bengal. The Home Rule Movement (1916), the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920) and the Simon Commission protests (1927-28) all came later.
- ✓ (a) Curzon's plan to partition the Bengal presidency led to public meetings, processions and, beside them, two programmes of mass action: Swadeshi and boycott. People boycotted foreign goods, burnt foreign cloth and promoted Indian-made products.
- ✗ (b) The Home Rule movement of Tilak and Annie Besant dates from 1916, eleven years after the Swadeshi and boycott programmes began.
- ✗ (c) The Congress formally launched Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement at Nagpur in December 1920; it revived boycott but did not introduce it.
Remember · Swadeshi and boycott were born in the 1905 agitation against the Partition of Bengal; later movements (1916, 1920, 1928) reused them.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 2 “At the same time, two programmes of mass actions emerged — Swadeshi ('of one's own country') and boycott. These two movements encouraged people to boycott foreign-made goods and promote Indian-made products”
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 2 “With Tilak's death in August 1920, Gandhi became the undisputed mass leader of the Indian National Congress, which formally launched the Non-Cooperation Movement at its Nagpur session in December the same year.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·